Newton Medical Center society recognizes donors

Photo by Warren Westura/New Jersey Herald
Megan Sandow, of Sparta, chief development officer for the Newton Medical Center Foundation, and Larry Condit, of Newton, a member of the foundation's board of directors, peruse the Legacy Donor Wall at Newton Medical Center in Newton.WSW

NEWTON -- Since its inception in 1986, the Newton Medical Center Foundation has received millions of dollars worth of donations for the facility from members of the community.

Employees of the foundation were grateful for the contributions and wanted to come up with a way to publicly acknowledge the donors; thus, the "legacy society" was born.

In February of this year, the program was officially renamed the Condit Legacy Society in honor of several generations of the Condit family's involvement with the medical center.

"We started the legacy society probably about seven years or so ago, and it was really a way to recognize people who had left a planned gift to the hospital, whether in their will or through real estate," said Megan Sandow, chief development officer of the Newton Medical Center Foundation. "This is really an opportunity to be able to thank them while they're here, recognize their generosity, and then hopefully spur on other people to let us know that they've done the same thing."

As part of the society, anyone who makes a non-anonymous donation to the medical center will have their name displayed on the legacy donor wall, created in 2009 and located in the hospital lobby across from the chapel. According to Sandow, over 30 names have been recognized on the wall so far.

Sandow said the medical center receives an average of almost $2 million each year from all kinds of donations. Donors can label their money as "undesignated" -- meaning the hospital can use it for any type of purchase -- or set it aside for a specific area, such as the Charles L. Tice Heart Center, cancer care or mental health care.

The foundation has also put some of the donation money toward community safety efforts like providing AEDs to schools and police departments, said board member Larry Condit. Sandow estimated that the organization has given out over 600 such devices and trained 4,000 people how to use them, saving about 50 lives in the process.

Not all donations are monetary gifts, Sandow explained. Some people will give the hospital land, buildings or charitable remainder trusts instead.

According to Condit, his family's relationship with the medical center began in 1932 when his grandparents, George Condit Sr., and his wife Blanche, donated property behind their farmhouse on High Street to establish what was then known as Newton Memorial Hospital. George served as the hospital's first president and was succeeded by his son, George Condit Jr.

Larry Condit noted that there are a number of second-generation board members whose families have supported the medical center for years, including the Romanos, who own several ShopRite stores in northwest New Jersey, and the Avondoglios, owners of Perona Farms in Andover Township.

He believes the family atmosphere of the hospital board is part of what has made it so successful over the years.

"It's like a real team effort here," Condit said. "This group, we're all real involved, caring, and that's been since day one, I think."

Sandow agreed, citing the "commitment and passion" of the organization that has enabled Newton Medical Center to evolve and improve over the years.

"It's incredible," she said of the support. "It's definitely rare, and we're very fortunate to have that."